http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories Steve Jobs, the Apple founder and former CEO who invented and masterfully marketed ever-sleeker gadgets that transformed everyday technology, from the personal computer to the iPod and iPhone, has died aged 56. Apple announced his death without giving a specific cause. He died peacefully, according to a statement from family members who said they were present. 'Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives,' Apple's board said in a statement. 'The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.' Jobs had battled cancer in 2004 and underwent a liver transplant in 2009 after taking a leave of absence for unspecified health problems. He took another leave of absence in January - his third since his health problems began - and officially resigned in August. He took another leave of absence in January - his third since his health problems began - before resigning as CEO six weeks ago. Jobs became Apple's chairman and handed the CEO job over to his hand-picked successor, Tim Cook. 'Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor.' Cook wrote in an email to Apple's employees. 'Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.' Jobs started Apple with a high school friend in a Silicon Valley garage in 1976, was forced out a decade later and returned in 1997 to rescue the company. During his second stint, it grew into the most valuable technology company in the world with a market value of $351 billion. Almost all that wealth has been created since Jobs' return. Cultivating Apple's countercultural sensibility and a minimalist design ethic, Jobs rolled out one sensational product after another, even in the face of the late-2000s recession and his own failing health. He helped change computers from a geeky hobbyist's obsession to a necessity of modern life at work and home, and in the process he upended not just personal technology but the cellphone and music industries. Perhaps most influentially, Jobs in 2001 launched the iPod, which offered '1,000 songs in your pocket.' Over the next 10 years, its white earphones and thumb-dial control seemed to become more ubiquitous than the wristwatch. In 2007 came the touch-screen iPhone, joined a year later by Apple's App Store, where developers could sell iPhone 'apps' which made the phone a device not just for making calls but also for managing money, editing photos, playing games and social networking. And in 2010, Jobs introduced the iPad, a tablet-sized, all-touch computer that took off even though market analysts said no one really needed one. By 2011, Apple had become the second-largest company of any kind in the United States by market value. In August, it briefly surpassed Exxon Mobil as the most valuable company. Under Jobs, the company cloaked itself in secrecy to build frenzied anticipation for each of its new products. Jobs himself had a wizardly sense of what his customers wanted, and where demand didn't exist, he leveraged a cult-like following to create it. When he spoke at Apple presentations, almost always in faded blue jeans, sneakers and a black mock turtleneck, legions of Apple acolytes listened to every word. He often boasted about Apple successes, then coyly added a coda - 'One more thing' - before introducing its latest ambitious idea. In later years, Apple investors also watched these appearances for clues about his health. Jobs revealed in 2004 that he had been diagnosed with a very rare form of pancreatic cancer - an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor. He underwent surgery and said he had been cured. In 2009, following weight loss he initially attributed to a hormonal imbalance, he abruptly took a six-month leave. During that time, he received a liver transplant that became public two months after it was performed. He went on another medical leave in January 2011, this time for an unspecified duration. He never went back and resigned as CEO in August, though he stayed on as chairman. Consistent with his penchant for secrecy, he didn't reference his illness in his resignation letter. Steven was adopted by Clara and Paul Jobs of Los Altos, California, a working-class couple who nurtured his early interest in electronics. He saw his first computer terminal at NASA's Ames Research Center when he was around 11 and landed a summer job at Hewlett-Packard before he had finished high school. Jobs enrolled in Reed College in Portland, Ore., in 1972 but dropped out after six months. 'All of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it,' he said at a Stanford University commencement address in 2005. 'I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out.' When he returned to California in 1974, Jobs worked for video game maker Atari and attended meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club - a group of computer hobbyists - with Steve Wozniak, a high school friend who was a few years older. Wozniak's homemade computer drew attention from other enthusiasts, but Jobs saw its potential far beyond the geeky hobbyists of the time. The pair started Apple Computer Inc. in Jobs' parents' garage in 1976. According to Wozniak, Jobs suggested the name after visiting an 'apple orchard' that Wozniak said was actually a commune. Their first creation was the Apple I - essentially, the guts of a computer without a case, keyboard or monitor. The Apple II, which hit the market in 1977, was their first machine for the masses. It became so popular that Jobs was worth $100 million by age 25.

Australian kids are clashing with their parents over the importance of climate change, a survey has found. The survey, by research groups Bayer and the CSIRO, found one in three families disagree on the importance of climate change with one in five parents saying they didn't believe in climate change. 'It is encouraging to see that children are taking what they've learned in the classroom and using it to educate their parents on how to reduce their carbon footprint,' Peta Ashworth, from the CSIRO's Science into Society Group, said in a release on Wednesday. 'When it comes to young Australians and their knowledge of the environment, it is clear the work done in schools is creating some healthy debates about sustainability and being green at home.' The survey, which sought the views of 1,000 parents and children aged 10-16, found that kids were helping their parents to reduce their carbon footprint with 46 per cent of parents saying their kids encouraged them to recycle rubbish and 27 per cent saying they were encouraged by their offspring to take shorter showers. And many kids certainly felt they were the experts on the topic with nearly a quarter saying they believed they were the family expert on the environment at home. 'Hopefully with continued focus on education and awareness, young Australians can help safeguard our planet for many generations to come,' Ms Ashworth said. One things kids and parents agreed on was who should pay for damage to the environment with 87 per cent of both parents and kids believing big polluters should pay for the damage. The survey found natural disasters were having a particularly big impact on kids with 50 per cent listing natural disasters as their number one worry when it came to climate change.Wednesday, August 10, 2011 » 05:05am

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Biodiversity is a great thing, ensuring that our ecosystems have the ability to function and prosper, even at times of extreme events and disease. In 2012, The scientific research crew of the French vessel Tara discovered significant amounts of plastic particles off the coast of Antarctica. Plastics have leaked their way into oceans as a result of human activity, and are having a murderous effect on marine life.A Science Museum spokesman said: “These fragments cause serious damage to the ecosystem and release toxins into our bodies because they are eaten by the fish we eat", The French vessel crews discovery sheds light on the importance of reducing plastic waste – including packaging and disposable materials. Doing your part by not using plastic water bottles (and other disposable plastics) and recycling materials properly can help. Sharing this message with your friends might help even more.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot changeThe courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference